FIX: It takes a longer time to load an HTML page that contains many non-ASCII characters in Internet Explorer 6

When you use Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 to open an HTML page that contains many non-ASCII characters, you may notice that it takes a longer time to load the page than it takes to load a similar page that does not contain non-ASCII characters.

Note Non-ASCII characters are characters that have a hexadecimal value that is more than 0x80, such as the umlaut (¨) character.

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

Prerequisites

You must be running Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) to apply this hotfix.

Restart requirement

You must restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel.

The hotfix reduces the time that Internet Explorer 6 takes to load an HTML page that contains many non-ASCII characters. The hotfix only improves performance. However, the hotfix does not improve performance to the performance level when no extended characters are on the page.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.